Mountain Elaenia

Elaenia frantzii

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernFruitForestCup nestSmall · 20 g

What the Mountain Elaenia sounds like

Sonogram of the Mountain Elaenia: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Call · Vereda La Máquina, Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Mountain Elaenia: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Oliver Komar · Call · San Pedro Sula, Departamento de Cortés, Honduras · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The mountain elaenia is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 14 to 24 g (0.49 to 0.85 oz). It is a small to medium size elaenia with a rounded crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a brownish olive head with lighter cheeks, a thin very pale olive eyering, and a mostly hidden white patch on the crown. Their upperparts are grayish olive. Their wings are mostly dusky with pale olive or olive-yellow edges on the flight feathers. The tips of their wing coverts are yellowish olive and show as two bars on the closed wing. Voice: The northern and southern pairs of subspecies of the mountain elaenia have somewhat different vocalizations, which is part of the evidence hinting that they are separate species. The dawn song of the northern pair is "an endless repetition of an overslurred whistle followed by a rising burry part and a higher-pitched second overslurred note, all three notes interconnected without a clear pause".

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Mountain Elaenia

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is March, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Mountain Elaenia

Regular range

The map shades 9 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

About the Mountain Elaenia

The mountain elaenia is a small passerine bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Mountain Elaenia vs Yellow-bellied Elaenia · Mountain Elaenia vs White-crested Elaenia · Mountain Elaenia vs Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet · Mountain Elaenia vs Small-billed Elaenia · Caribbean Elaenia vs Mountain Elaenia

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